Finance | - Part 5

Egypt Moves to End State Monopoly of Natural Gas Market

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt is opening the door to private participation in its natural gas sector, moving to end the state’s monopoly as it pushes ahead with reforms meant to encourage investment and revive the economy. The new law signed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi sets up a natural gas regulatory authority charged with licensing and devising a plan to open the gas market to competition. It also allows for the eventual import of natural…

Potash Plan Spurs $98-Million Road Link in Horn of Africa

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Djibouti contracted a Kuwaiti company to build a $98-million road link to enable landlocked Ethiopia to ship its first potash output from a new Red Sea port, officials said. Kuwait City-based Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons Co. is constructing the 128-kilometer (79.5-mile) road connecting the harbor to the border, while Ethiopia plans to provide an 11-kilometer stretch on its side, according to Aboubaker Omar Hadi, the chairman of Djibouti’s ports authority….

Gabon Seeks Private Partnerships to Boost Processing of Minerals

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Libreville (Capital Markets in Africa) – Gabon, Africa’s second-biggest manganese producer, wants to partner with private companies to process most its minerals locally before exporting them, Mining Minister Christian Magnagna said. Local processing will boost the mining industry’s contribution to gross domestic product from the current 2.1 percent to at least 4 percent as the central African nation seeks to make its economy less dependent on oil, Magnagna said in an interview in the capital, Libreville….

Banks Balk at Risk of Funding South Africa Mining Charter Deals

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JOHANNESBURGH (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s plan to force mining companies to give the black majority a bigger stake in the nation’s mineral wealth faces a major obstacle: convincing banks to back billions of dollars of fresh deals in an industry in decline. Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on June 15 that local mines should be at least 30 percent owned by black people, up from the previous requirement of 26 percent. The mining companies need banks to…

Burkina Faso Gets Solar Plant After Energy Policy Change

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OUAGADOUGOU (Capital Markets in Africa) – Burkina Faso signed an agreement to build a solar plant in the first such deal after the West African nation adopted legislation that authorizes private investment in the energy sector. Windiga Energy Inc. of Canada will install 85,000 photovoltaic panels to generate about 20 megawatts in the north-western outskirts of the capital, Ouagadougou, the country’s energy minister, Alfa Omar Dissa, told reporters after the signing ceremony on Tuesday. The project…

South African Airways May Test State Guarantees, Opposition Says

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African Airways, the country’s state-owned airline, may be close to calling in 19.1 billion rand ($1.5 billion) in government debt guarantees after missing loan repayment dates, according to the Democratic Alliance, an opposition political party. The airline, which hasn’t made a profit since 2011, has 8.9 billion rand of debt payable in the 2018 fiscal year, the DA said, citing data from parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance. SAA…

Rand Tumbles as South Africa Seeks Higher Black Mine Ownership

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rand weakened the most in more than two months as South Africa said local mines should be at least 30 percent owned by black people in an effort to redress economic imbalances caused by the apartheid system. The currency fell as much as 1.9 percent against the dollar, the most since March 28, to be the biggest decliner among 31 major and emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The…

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